Debts
by Crimson Cupcake
Summary: :Requested by Tifalochrt: Grimmjow's first impression of Ulquiorra was anything but friendly. But when the newly instated Espada saves his life on a mission, Grimmjow finds himself...almost indebted to him. Almost. :Slight GrimmUlqui:


**Requested by _Tifalochrt_**

**A/N:** I'm really happy someone requested xDD and, erm, I hope this is up to standard because I'll be fully willing to rewrite if it's not xD

Slight GrimmUlqui, nothing too...yaoi-y 8D, and rated T for language.****

_Disclaimer: Don't own and never will. -getting tired of disclaimer-ing-_**_  
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* * *

Footsteps echoed on the marble tiles, on the walls and on the ceilings of the large hall. The sound bounced from one surface to another, past the throne, past the steps, past the neat and intimidating red rug, past the few figures who were standing silently, and finally reverberated on the large stone doors to repeat the cycle again.

Within those large stone doors, a meeting had undoubtedly started. But one member was not present. He was standing outside, looking detachedly at the huge doors. Stretching out one flawless hand, he thrust the door open and entered.

A voice stopped him.

"You're late, Grimmjow."

Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez looked up at the figure seated on the marble throne. Although having no crown, Aizen Sousuke certainly had the aura of a king, or god, even. Immaculate white robes, dark, brown, and perfectly neat hair and cold dark eyes stared into the soul.

The Arrancar in question shrugged, averting his eyes. "A few minutes, something or other," he said carelessly, pulling back his head so that his face met Aizen's gaze.

"A lot more than a few minutes, actually, Grimmjow," Aizen replied coldly, and he smiled. The smile chilled the other to the spine, sending unwanted tremors up his iron skin. It did not reach his eyes, which remained as hard as ever.

"Whatever," Grimmjow spat. Without needing to be told, he took his place in the line of people already waiting.

"Now," Aizen said smoothly, "that our last member is here, we may begin. Although the Espada have only been created for a few months, we – that is to say, _you_ – are already stronger than all but the Captains of Soul Society. But we will soon change that." He paused, as if daring anyone to criticise. Nobody did.

"Perhaps you are wondering why I have brought you here today, my dear Espada," Aizen continued, which was perfectly true. "We do not yet have ten members, and I cannot assign you a rank as of yet. However, what I can do, is to build your ranks until you are ready to receive your position. As such, I present perhaps the strongest Espada yet...if you may, Ulquiorra."

Aizen made a slight nod with his head, and a previously figure stepped out of the shadows. He was already wearing the Espada uniform, – as was natural – a long tailcoat which seemed to flutter every step of the way.

Usually, one look at the new Espada, and Grimmjow would have lost interest. He remembered when Neliel Tu had been introduced. Now _that_ was one of the most boring meetings ever. But this time it was different. So much more different.

The new Espada had eyes of startling emerald, and dark eyebrows knitted into an almost permanent frown. But what really stunned him was the cyan tears tracing down his cheeks, and gave the impression that he was crying. In fact, Grimmjow almost thought he was for a moment, before those emerald eyes narrowed a fraction and instead he deduced that this Ulquiorra person must be really _really_ annoyed.

He gripped the room with a stunned silence – not even Nnoitra dared to speak. At last, when Aizen seemed to realize that nobody felt like introducing themselves, he did the honours for them.

"Introduce yourself, Neliel," he commanded, and the girl obliged, sinking into a low curtsy with her long turquoise hair draping over her face.

"My name is Neliel Tu Odelschwank," she said calmly.

The tall Arrancar beside her grinned and began, without Aizen having to tell him. "Nnoitra Jiruga. Care to fight?" he asked casually. "Course, I'll flatten ya in three seconds flat."

He was obviously looking for a reaction, but Ulquiorra had none. Aizen's mouth thinned disapprovingly. Seeing this, the next Arrancar hastened. "Szayel Aporro Granz at your service," the pink-haired scientist said, before quickly adding, "Nnoitra didn't mean that, Ulquiorra. Welcome to the Espada."

Of course, under different circumstances, Szayel would already be pulling out his various needles and scientific equipment, but it was a wise choice not to do so at this moment.

"Harribel," the girl next to Szayel said quietly – so quietly that Grimmjow, who was standing next to her, almost missed it. "Tia Harribel."

And it was his turn, inevitably. Grimmjow 'tch'ed, forcing himself to lock into those deep green eyes, eyes full of swirling memories and power. "Grimmjow fu—I mean, I'm Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, and don't forget that, brat," he snapped. He tried to avert his eyes, but Ulquiorra had them paralysed, unable to look away. And his eyes were staring too...cold, callous, a little inquisitive, and, if Grimmjow wasn't mistaken, a slight fear.

He couldn't look away...why couldn't he look away...fuck...what is this thing...goddamn it all... "What's with your fuckin' staring?" Grimmjow finally shot at him, using that trigger to pull himself away.

Ulquiorra regarded him coldly, almost curiously. "I am not staring," he said simply, before ignoring him and turning to the rest of the short line. "My name is Ulquiorra Cifer. It is an honour to meet you."

Grimmjow rolled his eyes. _Honour? This guy must've been fucked by Aizen before he met us... _But the rest of their group took it silently enough, and he was careful to hold his tongue. He could already sense the carefully controlled reiatsu, held back forcefully and ready to be unleashed any moment. There was no doubt about it.

Ulquiorra was dangerous.

-xox-

"Grimmjow? Grimmjow!"

Blinking, Grimmjow adjusted his vision to the front, and not out the window where he had just been watching a hollow cat chasing a mouse. "What?" he snarled, seeing an emotionless Ulquiorra standing there as always.

The raven-haired Espada regarded him coldly. "Are you or are you not going to pay attention while I show you how to wear your gigai?"

"F..." Grimmjow rolled his eyes. "Why you?" he snapped. "Where's frickin' Szayel when you need him?"

"Helping Nnoitra," Ulquiorra answered.

"And Harribel and Neliel?"

"They're already finished."

"Damn." Seeing Ulquiorra's impassive gaze, he sighed. "Fine. Continue, then."

Ulquiorra nodded curtly. "The gigai is a piece of equipment originally invented by the Shinigami Captain of the 12th Division, Urahara Kisuke. He was also the one to found the Research and Develop—"

"For god's fuckin' sake, Ulquiorra!" Grimmjow roared, "Stop giving me a fucking history lesson! And I don't give a shit 'bout the Shinigami!"

"Then what do you want me to tell you?" Ulquiorra asked. Grimmjow was about to snort, until he realized that the question was perfectly genuine. _He honestly doesn't know?_

"About what I'm supposed to _do_ on the friggin' mission! I know how to put one of those on!"

"When I asked you beforehand, you did not answer," Ulquiorra deadpanned, "and therefore I assumed you did not understand the uses of a gigai and so began explaining from the beginning. You would like to know what the mission is that Aizen-sama has assigned us?"

"Fuck yes!"

"Would you also like background information on how the Shinigami Research and Development Institute and Urahara Kisuke's other, less famous inventions?"

"Fuck no!"

"I understand." He began explaining immediately, missing Grimmjow's eyeroll completely.

-xox-

His jaw dropped. His blue eyes widened. A gasp escaped from his shaking body.

Grimmjow stared at the sight before him, unable to tear his eyes away. His perfectly toned body shook, and his vision blurred with sudden tears before he had enough sense to blink them away. The rest of the Espada were standing behind him, all as shocked as him, but none as alarmed. The blue-haired Espada bit his lip and turned away from the sight of Ulquiorra, lying unconscious on the hard stone floor of one of Hueco Mundo's few caves.

"D-D-D..." Grimmjow tried, but nothing but a stutter came out. He stared at the ground and took a few deep breaths experimentally. "D-Don't...Don't touch him," he growled, eyes trained unsteadily onto the ground. "If any of you touch him...I'll...I'll tear you apart alive!" Stumbling shakily, he pushed his way past the stunned group, out of the cave and as much further into the trees as possible, before his legs finally gave way and he fell onto his knees.

Heart-wrenching sobs escaped his body now, and he made no attempt to cover up the tears which slid down his face. Grimmjow clenched his fists hard enough to draw blood, but the pain seemed to ease him a little. Using it, he managed to steady himself and staunch the flow of tears. His breath came more easily now, no longer as ragged as before.

_He'll live,_ he pleaded to himself, _Szayel's a good medic. He can heal him...he'll live...don't worry...it's nothing serious...why am I acting like this anyway?_ He almost laughed at himself. _I'm a wimp! What's wrong with me...what's wrong...why do I even care? God!_ Cursing to himself, he stumbled upwards with the help of a tree and turned, to see Harribel.

"Don't touch him!" he said instinctively.

She stared. "It's not about that," she replied. "You do know what this means, don't you?"

"What _what_ means?" Grimmjow asked, trying to push down the fear in his throat.

Harribel sighed. "You two went on a mission together, didn't you?"

There was no need to ask. "Hell yeah. Why?"

"Do you realize what he did?"

"...What?"

"He swapped roles with you. _You_ were supposed to be the one doing his part. Aizen-sama told _you_ to serve as a distraction while _he_ was supposed to grab the closest three and run. It was a suicidal mission."

Grimmjow tried to speak, but no words came out. He gasped and tried again. "He...what...why would he do that?"

"Who? Aizen or Ulquiorra?"

"BOTH!" he screamed, and suddenly he didn't care who heard him.

"Haven't you realized?" Harribel said quietly. "Aizen's been trying to get rid of you for some time. This mission he told you to go on was as much a test of Ulquiorra's abilities as it was to get rid of you. And Ulquiorra knew this. He knew that you would die if you did the designated mission. That's why he swapped...and he told you to run and leave him behind because he expected to die.

"...Ulquiorra sacrificed his life for you, Grimmjow."

A stunned silence met this speech.

Then Grimmjow had disappeared immediately, using _sonido_ to arrive at the cave mouth again. Picking Ulquiorra up as gently as he could, careful not to cause the unconscious Arrancar discomfort, he turned to the rest of the Espada. "I'm going back," he announced shortly, "to Las Noches. And if you don't come and treat him immediately, Szayel, I'll—"

"Don't tell me," Szayel said immediately, cutting him off. "I don't want any death threats; I get them from Nnoitra once an hour anyway. I'll go."

Grimmjow decided to ignore Nnoitra's smirk and simply nodded. "Then hurry," he said, and vanished once more.

-xox-

"Fucking Aizen...fucking Aizen...fucking Aizen..."

Pacing impatiently outside Szayel's makeshift hospital, Grimmjow refused to let his mind wander. He still had trouble grasping that Ulquiorra – _the_ cold, uncaring, cruel, beautiful— what was that last one? He gave up and knocked, admittedly very hard, on the door.

"I'm NOT done yet!" Szayel shrieked for the 16th time that morning. "Come back LATER and STOP standing outside my DOOR!"

In return, Grimmjow let out a stream of curses.

Szayel shut up after that.

-xox-

After that escapade, Grimmjow could hardly believe his ears when Szayel called him over to the makeshift hospital. "He's awake?" he asked immediately, seeing the familiar bob of pink hair come into view.

"Yes, finally," Szayel sighed. "Thank Aize—" Seeing Grimmjow's murderous stare, he quickly backtracked. "—that is, thank _me_ for his regenerative abilities and Hierro. Although why he didn't go into release is beyond me."

"I know why," Grimmjow said quietly. Szayel gave him a curious stare, with some other intent Grimmjow couldn't see, but did not question. Slowly, the blue-haired Espada pushed the door open, to be met by a pair of deep, emerald green eyes.

"May I ask why you were foolish enough to actually bring me back and heal me?" Ulquiorra deadpanned immediately.

Grimmjow rolled his eyes, feeling anger bubble up. "Shouldn't've brought you back," he muttered under his breath.

"What was that?"

"...Nothing."

"Then answer my original question."

Grimmjow scowled. "Shut up, you son of a bitch."

Ulquiorra stared. "Are you suggesting that Aizen-sama is a female dog?"

The soon-to-be-Sexta Espada smirked.

"Hell yeah."

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**A/N:** As I said...I hope it's up to standard? -cowers in corner-

But still, review! xDD

~CC


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